"On Peace Street" by Asya Lavrinovich, summary Automatic translate

This book is a touching young adult story about growing up, finding oneself, and first serious feelings, written in 2020. It was later published under a different title, "Where Love Lives." The plot focuses on school intrigues and the complexities of relationships with parents. A lack of adult attention drives teenagers to desperate and cruel acts.

Strange threats and new acquaintances

Eleventh-grader Vera Azarova lives with her father in a spacious apartment. Two years ago, her mother left for a distant country to join her new boyfriend. Vera excels in her studies, chairs the school student council, and often assists Principal Lidiya Andreyevna. Vera’s daily life is brightened by her best friends: the impulsive Ira Tretyakova and her boisterous twin brother, Danya. Their group previously included Diana Rudneva and Nikita Yarovoy. Diana abandoned her old friends for the company of the school beauty, Oksana Sobol. Vera had a heated argument with Nikita two years ago over a fight. Since then, the former friends have pointedly ignored each other.

A popular new student, Mark Vasilevsky, begins to show Vera attention. He helps her carry her heavy textbooks, smiles charmingly, and invites her to attend summer school with him. Soon after, Vera receives her first anonymous threatening message. Other frightening oddities follow. Someone calls Vera at night and plays Chopin’s Funeral March. A nasty note is found in her school backpack. A fake severed finger is slipped into her mailbox. During a rehearsal for a school play, Lelya, an excellent student, falls from a high stepladder. Someone has deliberately loosened the bolts near the ladder. If Lelya hadn’t volunteered to replace Vera, Azarova herself would have been seriously injured.

The friends suspect the vengeful Oksana Sobol. The school beauty has long been jealous of Mark. A sullen, reclusive classmate, Amelia Ziegler, is also among the suspects. The principal tasks Vera with compiling a list of students for the summer camp trip. All the main participants in the conflict are included: Mark, Oksana, Ira, Dania, Nikita, Diana, Amelia, and the quiet, C-student Lyusya Antonenko.

Vera’s family problems

At home, Vera is in for another shock. Her father introduces his daughter to his new girlfriend, Katerina. Katya is only a few years older than Vera. She wears high heels, short dresses, and unnaturally bright makeup. Vera is hostile to her stepmother. During dinner at a restaurant, the girls exchange caustic barbs. Vera finds the thought of living with her father’s new flame unbearable.

Their relationship changes after a frightening evening incident. Their father falls ill, and Vera and Katerina go to the pharmacy late at night to buy some fever reducer. A group of aggressive, drunken men accost them on the street. One of the hooligans grabs Vera’s face. Katerina boldly defends her stepdaughter. Vera kicks the bully in the leg, and the girls run away together. Hiding in a dark archway, they have a frank conversation. Katerina confesses: she works as a simple packer in a candy factory. She dreams of a creative profession but is embarrassed by her poverty. Her new acquaintance tells her about her alcoholic parents and her dashed hopes of becoming a ballerina. Vera is filled with genuine sympathy for her stepmother.

Someone posts a humiliating collage on the school’s "Overheard" group. The unknown author combines an old childhood photo of Vera, a shot of a half-naked boy, and a revealing photo of Katerina from a nightclub. The caption mocks the new families of Vera’s parents. Vera struggles to hold back her tears. She resolves to find the culprit and not give up.

Secrets of Summer Camp

Tensions between the teenagers escalate rapidly at summer school. Vera, Ira, Diana, and Amelia end up in the same room. The girls constantly bicker. Ira can’t stand Diana for betraying her long ago. Amelia is rude to her roommates and plants fake spiders in Vera’s bed. Ira notices Oksana Sobol’s strange behavior in the forest. The school star aggressively scolds Lyusya Antonenko. A shocking detail comes to light: Oksana is blackmailing Lyusya. Sobol demands a good grade in Russian in exchange for keeping quiet about someone else’s secret.

Suddenly, the gloomy Amelia comes to Diana’s defense. Oksana deliberately trips Rudneva in the cafeteria, and Ziegler harshly reprimands her. The wardmates begin to communicate much more warmly. At night, they share deep, personal problems. Diana talks about her parents’ constant squabbles. The adults simply pay off their daughter with money. Amelia admits: she made up the horrific story about the cesspool just to get attention. The girl suffers from the overprotectiveness of her strict grandmother and is completely unable to make friends.

The teenagers decide to sneak out of the secure area at night. They want to test the legend of the ghost of a hanged girl in an abandoned nearby camp. Ira, Vera, Diana, Dania, Nikita, and Amelia make their way through a dark forest. In a gloomy building, they are startled by the creaking of floorboards. On the second floor, the teenagers meet Mark. Vasilevsky lost a card game to Oksana’s boyfriend and has come to film a video to prove his courage. Amelia plays a funny prank. She throws on a white shirt and scares the remaining campers live on air.

Reconciliation with Nikita

During a nighttime foray, Vera and Nikita climb onto the roof of the old building. They have a long, heartfelt conversation. Nikita confesses that two years ago, he withdrew due to intense jealousy over a boy Vera liked. The young man suffers from physical abuse from his cruel stepfather. He feels completely out of place in his own family. Vera understands that old grievances have been completely forgotten.

The next day, Vera and Nikita escape from the summer school grounds again. They take a long walk in the forest by a picturesque lake. Nikita takes Vera’s hand, and she feels incredible happiness. The teenagers share their hidden feelings, laugh a lot, and kiss tenderly. Vera realizes the bitter truth: the perfect Mark was just a fleeting infatuation. Vasilevsky is too dependent on his parents’ opinions and is terrified of disappointing them. Vera’s true first love has always been close by.

The camp administration learns of the mass escape. The enraged director threatens all seven with immediate expulsion. Lidiya Andreyevna rushes from the city. The director defends the students. She hugs Vera and calls her "my girl." This sparks further gossip among their peers.

Junction on the roof of an unfinished building

Vera receives another note. The anonymous person promises to reveal the whole truth and invites her to come to the unfinished building that evening. Ira persuades her friend to stay in the ward. She suspects Oksana is setting another cunning trap. Vera decides to ignore the meeting. After the evening concert by the fire, she notices Lucy Antonenko has disappeared. Fearing for her quiet classmate, Vera hurries to the construction site.

She finds Lyusya crying on the very edge of a high roof. A shocking truth is revealed. Lyusya is the biological daughter of director Lidiya Andreyevna. The girl bears her father’s last name. Lyusya is ashamed of her imperfect daughter, a C student, her squint, and her passion for singing. Lydiya Andreyevna constantly holds up Vera, an excellent student, as an example. It was Lyusya who orchestrated the bullying. She told Oksana about Vera’s parents’ difficult divorce. Lyusya skillfully manipulated Sobol. Antonenko sent threats, called with a funeral march, and broke the stairs in the assembly hall. The girl wanted to destroy Vera out of immense emotional pain and jealousy toward her mother.

Oksana was blackmailing Lucy. Sobol demanded that she improve her final grade in Russian. Driven to a nervous breakdown, Lucy tried to jump off the roof. She wanted to punish her mother and Vera with eternal guilt. Vera rushed to her aid and pulled her classmate back from the edge. In the heat of the struggle, Vera stumbled. The girl fell to the ground herself. Lucy tried to hold her by the arms, but her strength quickly gave out. Vera plummeted from a great height.

Return to Mira Street

Vera miraculously survives. She suffers a severe concussion and a closed ankle fracture. Lyusya confesses to all her crimes. Lidiya Andreyevna tearfully apologizes to Vera. The woman takes her daughter from the camp and shows her to specialists.

Vera’s friends often visit her in the hospital. Mark accepts Vera’s rejection peacefully. He starts dating another girl. Oksana’s boyfriend dumps the school’s beauty. Ira finally breaks up with her toxic boyfriend, Vadik. She opens her heart to the kind camp counselor, Boris. Danya beautifully courts Amelia. The classmates become closer, becoming a truly strong group. Diana mends her broken relationship with her parents.

Katerina picks Vera up from the hospital. They have a frank conversation in the car on the way home. Katerina confesses that she was constantly made fun of at school because of her drinking mother. Katya never had such loyal friends. The girls find common ground. Vera spends the end of the summer in Italy with her father and Katya. Their family relationship is finally mending. The deep resentment toward her mother’s departure gradually subsides.

Upon returning home, Vera plans a surprise party for her friends. She accidentally drops a ripe watermelon in the yard. The noise brings Nikita running from the next building. The lovers joyfully embrace in the drizzling rain. Vera hears the accordion music of an old neighbor. She kisses Nikita. She realizes: love and happiness have always lived side by side — on her native Mira Street.